7/28/2014, Joey Slaughter

Transport Topics just released their list of the top 100 for-hire carriers. There was nothing really surprising to me on the list, but some people may be surprised to see who’s on there and who’s not. Due to the nature of a blog, I can’t go over the entire list, but here is the top 10 and their revenue:
1. UPS, Inc.($55.4 Billion)
2. FedEx Corp.($45.1 Billion)
3. J.B. Hunt Transport Services($5.6 Billion)
4. Con-Way, Inc.($5.5 Billion)
5. YRC Worldwide($4.9 Billion)
6. Swift Transportation($4.1 Billion)
7. Schneider($3.6 Billion)
8. Hub Group($3.4 Billion)
9. TransForce, Inc.($3 Billion)
10. Landstar System($2.6 Billion)

Here are some interesting points that put these numbers into context.
• UPS and FedEx’s combined revenue of 100 billion exceeds companies 3-100 combined (98 billion) Knowing how large a billion is, there’s a good chance that the big 2 has revenue that would exceed companies 3-500 if such things were measured.
• Out of the top 10, only 3 companies are primarily long haul, U.S. OTR operations; Swift, Schneider and Landstar. TransForce is a Canadian powerhouse with OTR companies within, but I’m not sure of their primary segment.
• J.B. Hunt and Hub Group earn their revenues primarily through the intermodal/drayage sector, not trucking.
• UPS and FedEx are primarily package couriers with their LTL and logistic operations rounding out the massive behemoths. There are many other companies under their umbrella, but the package courier, LTL and logistic operations are the dominant companies within.
The following statistics (from OOIDA) add even more context to the industry as a whole:
• 97% of all fleets are 20 trucks or less
• 90% of all fleets are 6 trucks or less

If you are an owner-operator leased to a carrier, you are counted with their numbers. Even though, my little one truck, trucking company is but a grain of sand on the beach of large carriers, I stand with the majority of small trucking companies that are moving the bulk of our nation’s freight.